Silvertown: an East End Family Memoir
Melanie McGrath
Andrew was drawn to the book (available in Leighton Buzzard
library) as his mother grew up in this area of London. It gives
an insight into the people who lived in the area - a community
that has now disappeared, the houses having been knocked down in
the '60s and replaced by high-rise flats. It includes a
description of the gruesome but common practice of having all
one's teeth extracted (by the local butcher, without anaesthetic)
as a 17th birthday 'present', to save on future dental costs.
Andrew 21/11/04
The frames have
gone all funny - click to make it good.